Note to editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Dr Roy Jankielsohn MPL
If there was any doubt that senior officials in Free State municipalities are appointed by ANC redeployment committees, this has been refuted by the Free State ANC Chairperson, Polediso Motsoeneng.
In an invitation to attend an ANC Provincial Lekgotla on the 5th and 6th of February 2023, hosted by the ANC Provincial Executive Committee, he has included Municipal Managers alongside Mayors, Speakers and Chief Whips.
This is a blatant admission that Municipal Managers in ANC-run municipalities are subjected to the cadre deployment policy and are mere extensions of ANC factions in the Free State. Municipal employees are not allowed to participate in their official capacities in party political activities, especially on working days.
The DA has been vociferous about the devastating impacts of cadre deployment on service delivery. The letter of invitation is a shameless admission of cadre deployment in the Free State. Political appointments in all spheres of government have caused inept factional cadres to be deployed into senior positions, which has been a source of corruption, poor financial management, devastating audit reports, and the collapse of service delivery in ANC-run municipalities.
DA Member of Parliament Leon Schreiber won an important court case yesterday that will force the ANC to release documents on their cadre deployment, which was cited in the Zondo Commission report as contributing to state capture.
The DA in the Free State will monitor this meeting and take action against Municipal Managers who attend. The DA regards the request for all attendees to pay for their own accommodation and transport costs as a veiled instruction for this to be done using municipal resources.
The people in the Free State must note that there is no good or bad faction of the ANC. One thread that unites all factions of the ANC is the continuation of corruption and state capture.